Rumsfeld: Base closings will save $48 billion
Defense chief says savings would be realized over 20 years
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 To cut costs, the Pentagon proposes closing military bases.
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| BRAC Timeline | • By May 16, 2005 -- Rumsfeld gives Pentagon's recommendations to the base closings commission.
• By September 8, 2005 -- After holding public hearings, visiting bases, collecting data and possibly making changes, the commission gives its report of recommended base closures to President Bush.
• By September 23, 2005 -- The president will accept or reject the list in its entirety.
• 45 days later -- Congress has that amount of time to reject the recommendations in their entirety or they become binding.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Defense and The Associated Press |
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A coming round of military base closures will save the U.S. military nearly $50 billion over two decades, but will be less extensive than once thought, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday.
Rumsfeld is scheduled Friday to present the Pentagon's recommended list of installations to be closed to lawmakers and the Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
He kept a tight lid on details of the much-anticipated list but said it would contain fewer names than expected since additional space will be needed to house U.S. troops now deployed overseas.
"Nonetheless, the changes that will occur will affect a number of communities, communities that have warmly embraced nearby military installations for a good many years, indeed in some cases, decades," he said.
"The department will take great care to work with these communities with the respect that they have earned, and the government stands ready with economic assistance."
The closures will save the Pentagon more than $5 billion a year and will produce a net savings of $48 billion over 20 years, Rumsfeld said.
The military has carried out four previous rounds of base closings since 1988. The Pentagon estimates those closures have saved about $40 billion so far.
The nine-member base-closing commission, known as BRAC, is led by former Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi.
It will review the Pentagon's recommendations and send them, along with any changes, to the White House by September 8.
The president has until September 23 to approve or reject the list without making changes; if approved, it goes to Congress for a vote.
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the closures were designed in conjunction with efforts to turn the U.S. armed services into lighter, more agile forces.
The closure of several bases is "a necessary part of that," he said.
"It is integral to our ability to structure ourselves to be able to defend this country well into the future," Myers said.
